


Once in a purple moon

by Quilna



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animal Traits, Animalistic, Fluff, Galra Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, People acting like animals, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Transformation, Treating People Like Animals, Were-Creatures, Weregalra, Werewolf Reveal, Werewolves, non-binary Pidge, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 01:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7555384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quilna/pseuds/Quilna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since he was little, Keith had sporadic transformations at night into a purple furred creature with glowing yellow eyes. He always assumed that he was a werewolf and chained himself up at night. Being a loner, it as always easy to conceal but when he joined Voltron and learned about the Galra he began to realize what the transformations really were and what they meant.</p><p>Then a transformation occurred one night and it was too late to confess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once in a purple moon

**Author's Note:**

> Written before the release of season 2  
> Set just before Crystal Venom

Keith had put up with his transformations since he was little. He could barely remember what it was like before them.

One night, he had watched in horror as purple fur sprouted over his body and his senses became overwhelming until the point that he'd blacked out. He had awoken in the morning, sat in a daze on the floor, to find scratch marks over his bedroom walls and around the door like something had been in his room. Something that had been trying to get out.

Since then, he had suffered a transformation every couple of months. As a kid, he tied himself to the bed with sheets since the creature seemed unaware of how to undo knots, unsure of what else to do. When he grew older, he bought handcuffs and hid the keys under his bed in a place that was reachable when the transformation wore off but the creature that he turned into wouldn't be able to use. He handcuffed himself to the bed and waited for the effects to wear off.

A couple of years after the first transformation, he learned about werewolves and he'd had his suspicions. To confirm, he bought a camera and recorded his transformations. He saw a version of himself coated in purple fur with glowing yellow eyes and fangs and claws that looked sharp enough to cause serious damage. This seemed like proof enough that he was a werewolf to him so he accepted this fact and proceeded to keep cautious even if some details were strange like how he didn't always change during a full moon or even at night sometimes. It was a monster and it was dangerous, that was all he knew.

Hiding his condition was easier than he thought. Nobody ever got close enough to him to notice and the signs before transformation were always early enough for him to prepare in advance for nightfall. It really helped to be an introvert. His adoptive parents never asked much about the strange noises. Maybe they were asleep or maybe they assumed it was the dog. Either way, they didn't seem to notice anything.

This changed when he joined Voltron. Suddenly, he had friends, people who would notice odd behavior or a weird yellow glow in his eyes. Worse, they lived in the same place. Anyone could come in during the night and see him or hear the noises and, this time, there was no dog to blame it on. There was Lance but Lance had the ability to testify that it _wasn't_ him.

When he first saw a Galra, he made the connection immediately. There was no mistaking the purple fur that he had seen a thousand times sprouting from his arms. Surprisingly, he hadn't felt anything about it. He should have been shocked or horrified but he only felt a certain numbness and acceptance like he had known all his life. He was a Galra and that was just life for him but he wasn't like them. He wouldn't ever hurt anyone on purpose.

In hindsight, he should have told someone but with Shiro's fear of the Galra and the united hatred of Galra among everyone, he couldn't shake the feeling that they wouldn't accept him. They had accepted Pidge with ease but this was different. This was a monster in their midst who couldn't control himself. He wanted to wait until they trusted him. He wanted to wait until he was sure that they wouldn't reject him.

Then a transformation occurred one night and it was too late to confess.

 

"End training"

Keith was sweaty and breathing heavily as he leaned on his bayard. His skin was sore from the hits he had got, creating the feeling that his entire body was burning and the lights seemed brighter than usual. He could barely stand up straight from dizziness. Personally, he was kind of concerned that he might be suffering a concussion. He had been training for a while alone but he didn't feel like he had gotten much better. He would have to train again the next day if he wanted to get good enough to beat Zarkon. It wouldn't hurt to be prepared for single combat against him just in case or just to be prepared, period. With a sigh, he brought up his hand to wipe the sweat from his head.

_Huh?_

Keith froze. Slowly, he brought his hand back down to eye-level and gazed at it. Purple blotches dotted his skin like bruises and the fingernails on his first and middle fingers had turned into sharp talons. He stood and stared at the half changed hand for a second, letting the implications sink in. It was that time again and he still hadn't confessed his Galra side to his teammates. Even worse, the transformation had already developed too far to waste any time. He had been so distracted by the training that he hadn't noticed anything, the pains and colours of transformation hidden under the bruises from the training dummy. He didn't have any time to tell anyone, he had to get to his room and tie himself to something quickly.

After a quick curse under his breath, he began to run towards his room, stumbling as aches and waves of dizziness began to strike him that he now knew were from his transformation, not training. He should have realized that he had started feeling the pains of battle much earlier than he should have.

"Keith?"

Keith almost tripped over in an attempt to avoid colliding with the figure who had just stepped out from a doorway. Luckily, a side-effect of his transformations usually included better balance.

"In a rush to get somewhere?"

He looked up at the figure, squinting in the blinding light of the ship. Had the lights always been that bright? It was like trying to stare into the sun.

"Looks like you took quite a beating. You _are_ only training on level 5, right?"

Although the lights were bright, the arrogant tones were unmistakable. It was Lance.

"I didn't take a beating" Keith muttered, only half listening. He took the opportunity to catch his breath while he looked for a way out.

"Really dude? You're covered in so many bruises you look like a Galra" Lance snorted at his own comparison. Keith would have rolled his eyes on any normal occasion at the way-too-true statement.

Damn. The transformation was spreading fast. He had never considered how fast he turned before now.

"Look, I gotta go" Keith gave Lance a nasty glare.

"Why? Late for a date?" Lance smirked but stepped out of the way, "Alright, go for it but tell me how it went afterwards, can't let you show me up after all, not that you could..."

"It's not hard to show you up" Keith said and sprinted past. If he hadn't been in such a rush, he probably could have thought of a better comeback. He could feel Lance's suspicious gaze hard on his back. 

He was thankful when he finally arrived at his room, grimacing in pain at the twisting sensation in his gut like someone was playing with his insides. He pretty much fell into his room and crawled over to the bed as the room began to spin and a burning sensation shot through his entire body. He had left his handcuffs on Earth so he took the sheets off his bed and the pillowcase and did his best to tie his left arm to the bed while his vision flickered and faded. He had a horrible feeling about this but it was way too late to tell anyone so he just lay there and let the darkness take him. He managed to stifle a scream just before everything went dark.

 

Pidge had been confused when they saw Keith sprint past her like he was being chased by an entire army of Galra. They glanced back to see Lance staring after him.

"What's up with Keith?" They asked, approaching Lance

"Coran was probably trying to get him to do chores again" Lance said, crossing his arms.

"Again? He usually only does that to you" Pidge replied pointedly.

"Wait, _what?!_ What happened to equality within Voltron?! I demand that I have rights too as the best member of Voltron!"

"Aren't you worried about Keith?" They protested.

"The guy can stand up for himself, if he had anything he wanted to tell us, he would. Anyway, I have to see an alien about some chores"

Lance stormed off and Pidge stood there for a moment before heading to Keith's room. It wasn't like Keith to look so worried about anything and that scared them.

They arrived and knocked at the door hesitantly.

"Keith? You in there?"

There was no response but there was a faint tearing noise. They wondered whether the mice were in his room for some reason. They had noticed that the mice had an annoying habit of poking their noses in other people's business. 

"Can I come in?"

No response.

"I'm coming in, ok?"

Pidge opened the door and stepped inside. The room was so dark they could barely see a thing.

"Hello?"

Was that something moving in the dark? They couldn't tell.

They moved forwards and saw something strange on the floor. Keith's bed sheets had been taken off the bed and were lying on the floor, torn to shreds as if by some kind of animal. They frowned uneasily. Similar scratch marks gouged the walls and bed.

Just as they were picking the sheets up, for a second, the light from the doorway was eclipsed unexpectedly, dumping them in almost complete darkness. They spun around in time to see a silhouette darting out of the door. They sighed. It seemed that Keith really didn't want to talk. Lance had been right. Just as they were about to leave, the doorway was eclipsed again.

"Hello?" Lance peered through the open door, "Hey, Keith? You in here?"

"Keith's not here" Pidge called back, standing up.

Lance looked confused and perhaps slightly alarmed, "Pidge? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you, I thought you were looking for Coran?"

Did Lance just blush?

"Wh- huh? W-well, I couldn't find him anywhere else so I thought he might be in Keith's room. That's it."

Pidge raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure you weren't worried about Keith?"

"He's my rival! Why should I be worried about that loser? Anyway, Coran's not here so I'll be going"

"Just a tick, what do you think of this?" Pidge held up the tattered bedsheets before another person could escape from the door.

"I think it looks like a cat tore it up, why?"

"We don't have a cat"

"We have mice" Lance spoke distractedly.

"I don't think the mice could do this"

"Then what? A Galra broke in?"

"Why would a Galra break in just to tear up Keith's bed sheets?"

"Well I don't know! Maybe Keith was hitting on it? I really got to go"

"Ew, I doubt that"

But Lance was already gone. Pidge decided to question Keith about it later. He couldn't avoid them forever. He would open up eventually.

 

Hunk lay awake on his bed, unable to sleep. He had a horrible feeling of foreboding in his gut and last time that had happened it had been about the bounty hunters who stole Lance's lion. The issue was that he couldn't figure out what he was feeling so worried about and he knew that, most likely, nobody would pay much attentions to these concerns just like last time. This time he had even less evidence for something being wrong.

He was about to go grab a snack to settle his nerves when he heard a scratching noise. He stopped. The mice? No, it sounded bigger than that, mice couldn't make such a loud noise. He stood up, a chill settling over him.

The scratching stopped and he could almost feel the thing listening, considering. He stood as still of possible, listening back and trying to stay quiet. What was out there in space that could get in and cause damage, possibly to a human?

This stand-off lasted what seemed like an age before Hunk's stomach growled. He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth fearfully. The thing knew he was there and if it was dangerous... There was a small hiss and the sound of something running away. It sounded like the size of a person. He breathed a sigh of relief, the thing was more scared of him than he was of it. Even so, he had to report this. It didn't sound good.

 

In all honesty, Lance was worried about Keith. Not that he would admit it to anyone, but the torn up sheets had shaken him. He had suspected for a while that the ship could be haunted, constantly making strange noises and behaving like a living creature but now with the sheets and a missing Keith, not to mention Keith's out of character fear before he went missing. Maybe he was being crazy but he could have sworn that Keith's eyes had been reflective like a cats as he sprinted past, glinting an ominous yellow in the light. Maybe the ghosts had gotten Keith. Maybe Keith had become possessed and was hunting him down in some bloodthirsty rage seen only in horror movies. He knew that no-one would believe him though, they would come up with some logical explanation and say he was paranoid. He probably was. He needed to calm down.

Lance took a deep breath. Keith was fine and no-one was in any danger. He could ask Allura if she had seen him and about the sheets. Maybe there was something else on board other than the mice like some space cat. If there was space mice, why not a space cat? That's all it was just a-

-Was that scratching?

Lance stiffened. It sounded like claws against metal in that annoying high pitched screech that stung his ears.

"...Space cat..?" He gazed fearfully towards the direction of the scratching. "Calm down, Lance, it's probably not a ghost. It's just the space cat..."

Another deep breath, "Kitty?"

The scratching stopped.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty" Lance called nervously.

A shadow on a nearby wall began to move, unraveling as something stood up. Something large on two legs with menacing, curved points atop it's skull like horns. Definitely _not_ a cat.

Lance was wondering about the existence of space demons when the shape that he had thought to be horns moved, revealing that they were a pair of ears were perched atop its head, swiveling to the direction he was in.

Galra!

Lance grabbed his bayard and began to move slowly towards the place where the Galra was feeling less worried. How did a Galra even get on board? Well, at least he knew how to deal with Galra in contrast with ghost busting. No need for ghost hoovers when you've got weapons.

The Galra flattened its ears onto its head and a low snarl reverberated around the room. The silhouette moved to crouch in an attack position like a cat ready to pounce. It wasn't behaving like any normal Galra. It was behaving like it was feral and that unnerved Lance. Could Galra be feral? Quiznaks, what if it had rabies? Alien rabies.

He turned into the corridor where the Galra was and brought up his bayard - just in time to hit at the violet ball of fur leaping at his face, claws outstretched and eyes alight with an unearthly glow. The Galra screeched and fell back, landing on all fours hissing, ears flat and eyes gazing at him with... Fear..?

It didn't look old for a Galra although Lance didn't know much about Galra anatomy. It looked quite young and scared, with fluffier fur than a normal Galra like the down on a duckling. It actually looked rather soft. Lance paused. He couldn't kill a child, even a Galra child, especially one that seemed afraid. It was shaking violently, gazing at him pitifully.

"Hey..." Lance held out a hand towards the Galra, "I'm not going to hurt you"

The Galra seemed weary but it peered at his hand inquisitively. It sniffed his hand. Once. Twice. Then, it seemed to relax slightly and moved towards Lance on all fours in a crawl like a baby. Lance lightly stroked the Galra's fluffy head and a small, contented smile flickered at the corner of the Galra's mouth. He had been right, it was really soft and actually kind of cute for a Galra. The Galra closed its eyes with a soft sound like a purr, showing small, pointed fangs.

"You look kind of like Keith" Lance said jokingly looking at the Galra's mullet-shaped fur atop its head, "I'll call you Keith 2.0. After all, I'd recognize that mullet anywhere"

The Galra gazed at him with an strange expression that looked sort of like recognition or remembrance. There was a certain amount of intelligence in those eyes. It made sense. Galra weren't exactly idiotic animals.

He reached to scratch the Galra behind the ears and the Galra began to purr again, shuffling closer to him to rub its head against his hand. It was strange watching a Galra act like this. It was like having a human sized cat. Slowly, the Galra eased its head into Lance's lap, purring softly and happily. Lance couldn't help but smile. He enjoyed seeing the Galra like Keith, it would be hilarious to have Keith settling his head into Lance's lap and purring and it would be like an unlimited supply of blackmail.

"How'd you even get in here anyway?" He was concerned by that detail. How had this child gotten in? Surely the Galra weren't cruel enough to send a child in to fight. A distraction maybe? He would have to tell the others. Hopefully they wouldn't think that this tiny creature really _was_ evil.

It was that moment that Hunk appeared. He halted with an expression of alarm and horror as he saw Lance stroking a Galra.

"Is that..?"

"I think it's a child" Lance cut in quickly before Hunk could freak out.

"How..?"

"I don't know, I was about to tell Allura about it"

Hunk spoke uncertainly, "There was scratching outside my room, I was about to tell Allura but..."

"...But you think it was Keith 2.0?"

"Keith 2.0?"

"Yeah, it looks like Keith doesn't it? I bet naming a Galra after him will really tick him off." Lance chuckled evilly.

"...Wow... It really does... It almost looks _exactly_ like Keith..." Hunk's eyes widened in horror.

Lance paused and looked down at the Galra again. It really did... Look... Like...

...Like...

"...Holy quiznak... _Keith?!"_

It was even wearing the same clothes as Keith, how had he not noticed? That jacket was a one-of-a-kind fashion disaster. He felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment as he realized that he had been stroking this Galra. He had been stroking _Keith!_ And Keith was acting like a... like a cat! AND HE WAS A GALRA?!

He pushed the transformed Keith off of him suddenly, ignoring the surprised yowl as he scrambled away and looked up at Hunk in shock.

"But... _How?!"_

"I don't know either! Do you think it's infectious..?"

Lance and Hunk both shuffled away from the transformed Keith, eyeing it suspiciously. Keith looked upset for a second but turned to gaze at Hunk with large curious eyes. He make a quizzical noise.

"Uh... Do we have to look after it? Like feeding it and all that and... Cleaning up after it..."

Keith answered that by scampering over to the food goo machine and pouring some on the floor before eating it straight off the floor.

"He's acting like a cat" Hunk observed, "I don't think he's aware of what he's doing"

"No, really?" Lance said sarcastically, "Do you have a camera? I need some blackmail from this. This is priceless"

Galra Keith finished the food and then slumped over the top of one of the chairs, ears drooping tiredly and eyes half closed.

"Definitely a cat. We should stop him before he embarrasses himself"

"Too late"

"Before he embarrasses himself more" Hunk corrected.

That was the moment that Pidge walked in and stared in alarm and shock at the Galra draped on the chair, reaching for their bayard quickly.

"Don't hurt him!" Hunk cut in quickly, "It's Keith!"

"Are you crazy?! Keith?!" Pidge looked from Hunk to Lance to Keith.

"Way to break it gently," Lance muttered and then to Pidge, "Yeah, we don't know how but that's Keith and I need a camera to record this. Anything will do, a phone or a-"

"We _need_ to tell Allura about this." Hunk shot Lance a look, "With the blackmail material, remember that _you_ were stroking him"

Lance went red again and shut up.

Pidge slowly approached Keith cautiously.

"...Keith..?"

Keith rolled over to look at them lazily with glowing yellow eyes.

"IT'S KEITH!" Pidge's jaw dropped, "That's... It's like some kind of werewolf transformation"

"Werewolf? Like... A were-galra..?" Hunk asked.

"Well, yeah, he's acting totally different. This is amazing!"

"Amazing?" Lance cut in indignantly.

"Well it's bad but his appearance has completely changed including anatomy and behaviour. I'd bet he has different organs and everything" They reached out a hand and petted Keith awkwardly. Keith purred contentedly and nuzzled their hand.

"If he's a were-galra, will he turn back eventually?" Hunk frowned, reaching out a hand to join in with petting the Keith.

"Hopefully"

"He might be infectious" Lance cut in, almost jealously. Pidge and Hunk withdrew again from the Keith.

"How do we explain this to Shiro?" Pidge exclaimed with sudden realization, "He's terrified of Galra"

"Explain what to me?"

Everyone froze as Shiro stepped into the room.  All the color suddenly drained from his face as his eyes fell upon the Galra. Keith suddenly sat up as if sensing the bad situation coming, ears pricking straight up. Everyone stood there for the longest second in history: Shiro and Keith staring each other down.

Shiro's hand was already glowing with energy. He shot forwards at alarming speeds, pinning the frightened kitten against the wall before anyone could react. Keith mewled loudly in protest and began to hiss and scratch at Shiro. Shiro was unmoveable, glaring at it with venom

"Shiro! Stop! That's Keith!"

Shiro just scowled, "That's not Keith," he spat, "It's a Galra"

Keith was growing more and more feral by the second, going into an utter fury. The hissing turning into a strangled screeching and wailing that sounded nothing like a cat anymore.

Things were getting out of hand too quickly.

"What's going on in here?!" Allura rushed into the room, followed by Coran. She didn't even stop to survey the scene, sprinting towards Shiro and practically throwing him off Keith. Keith just howled in rage and slashed at her but Allura grabbed his wrist and pinned him against the wall again.

Everyone was staring in utter, amazed silence with their jaws hanging open, including Coran. Lance whistled.

"Galra!" Coran got into a kung-foo pose but Allura held up a hand to stop him without looking back. She gazed at the thrashing Galra with only a faint look of surprise. Shiro seemed to have calmed down and was now beginning to recognize who was pinned up on the wall.

"...Keith..?"

Allura nodded, "It's been a while since I've seen something like this but he's-"

"-A were-galra? Go on, we all know you wanna say it" Lance cut in excitedly.

"What's a were-galra?" Allura frowned and shrugged off the comment, "Keith seems to be hybrid between a galra and another species, likely human. Hybrids that don't get taught how to control themselves at young ages usually shift randomly between their two forms with little control over their changed instincts and senses" Allura caringly rubbed Keith's head until he calmed down a bit. 

"Keith's part Galra?" Pidge asked, "Wow, that's a thing? I thought the Galra didn't even come to Earth?"

"I don't fully understand it myself but Keith's incredibly feral behaviour is likely due to him fearing his other form and keeping it locked away often, that's usually the case. With a bit more practice, I think he'll be able to control it"

Coran regained his composure and smirked, "Of course, I always had a suspicion that Keith wasn't fully human"

"...Yeah, right" Lance glared at him.

"Now what?" Pidge asked and everyone looked at Keith.

 

Keith groaned, feeling dizzy, nauseous and confused as he tried to regain his composure and figure out what had happened. The floor was surprisingly soft beneath him and what appeared to be a blanket had been lain over him while he slept. Slowly, bits and pieces of the previous night were fed back to him through his hazy mind and a cold fear struck him. He had turned. He was not tied up. Oh no!

He sat up at lightning speed only to be greeted by a splitting headache and a spinning room.

"Lie back down, you're going to hurt your head if you do that"

Keith looked over in surprise. He was even more surprised (and maybe slightly horrified) to find that Coran was the one nursing him.

"Here" Coran handed him a cup of a clear liquid, "It'll help"

"...Thanks..." Keith stared at it suspiciously before placing it carefully on the floor. He wasn't going to drink it. "What happened, is everyone ok?"

"A little in shock but fine overall"

Keith sighed in relief, eyeing his reflection in the drink. His hair still had a purple tint to it and violet fluff clung to his cheeks and clothing. He lightly brushed it off.

"...So I guess everyone knows?" Keith stared down sadly, ready for the retribution.

"Sure. You should have seen the way everyone was fawning over you. Hunk just couldn't get enough of how fluffy you were" Coran chuckled.

"F-fluffy..?"

Coran must not have registered or understood Keith's embarrassment as he continued, "Pidge seemed very fascinated with you. Is it part of human customs to make weird noises around furry creatures?"

Keith held his head in his hands. He was rather relieved that everything has turned out alright but on the other hand...

"So what _did_ happen?" Keith pressed, looking up through his fingers at Coran.

Before he could get any response, the familiar head of a rival poked through the doorway followed by the cry of, "Keith's back!" and a line of Paladins making their way into the room. The expressions on their faces differed from person to person. Lance and Shiro were red faced and oddly quiet, avoiding Keith's gaze, Pidge had a red face too but for a different reason. They were beaming brightly with ruffled hair and a look of excitement. Hunk, on the contrary, looked worried in an almost motherly way. Allura came in last. She strode purposefully and stood like an army soldier, hands behind her back and standing ramrod straight. Nobody gave him any looks of hatred or fear. Nobody looked down on him like the enemy he thought himself to be.

For the first time since he got into Voltron, Keith felt truly at home.

Allura gave him a reassuring look and spoke first, "Keith, we're willing to forgive the fact that you've kept this secret from us all this time but you-"

"-Excuse me, princess!" Lance cut in with exasperation, "You say that like there was any way we wouldn't forgive him. Besides, _we?!_ _WE_ didn't even talk through this speech!"

"-You should really tell us next time. You're a Paladin and we wouldn't treat you any differently no matter what species you are" Allura finished, ignoring Lance like usual.

"Plus you were really adorable" Pidge whispered under their breath.

"I also suggest you stop trying to resist it. It's not healthy to suppress a side of you like that and it would give you more control. I will create some exercises to help you with this and everyone can take part"

There was a collective groan from the Paladins.

"Alright" Keith accepted reluctantly, he felt nervous about letting his wild side roam free but the quicker he came to control this, the less team-building exercises Allura forced them through, "Now will someone tell me what happened while I was out?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Team-building starts now, no more time for explaining!" Allura cut in and everyone seemed to sigh with relief. Keith narrowed his eyes but he never did get an explanation.

From that day on, everyone kept relatively quiet about what he had done in Galra form. Keith eventually decided that he didn't want to know, especially since Lance started blushing every time their eyes met for a while after the incident.

Through the power of terrifying and sometimes life-threatening exercises, Keith began to find power he had never been able to use before. When he gained the ability to make his Galra ears appear and disappear at will, he first did so after Lance scared him from behind. He wasn't sure who had jumped higher, him or Lance staring with a gaping mouth at the twitching triangles of fur atop his skull. He also slowly developed incredible night vision at the cost of being absolutely terrifying to see in a darkened room with his eyes of molten gold. Everything was great from that day on although, he sometimes wondered what happened that day. Sometimes a Paladin would meow in his presence or make a cat pun which confused him to no end. He was sure that he would never know.

 

And Lance was fine with that.

 

 


End file.
